VIOLENCE against women will once again be in the spotlight this weekend as thousands of Australians mark the rising death toll of Australian women since last year’s mass rallies. 

Organised by advocacy group What Were You Wearing, the national rallies, including one to be held in Perth’s city centre, will be calling on the newly re-elected federal government to improve funding for support organisations and education programs aimed at combatting gender-based violence. 

At time of the Chook’s publication, 24 women and 10 children had been killed in 2025, following a horrific 2024 where 103 women were killed in acts of femicide. 

WWYW chief operating officer Zoe Cornelius says she is “fairly hopeful” that the crisis of women’s safety will be taken more seriously following the election but isn’t completely confident enough work will be done under the new government. 

• Despite last year’s mass rallies, 24 women and 10 children have been killed this year.

“In the Senate, there is a big majority to the Greens, which is good because we’ve had a lot of support from them, so that part makes me hopeful,” Ms Cornelius said. 

“There definitely is a part of us that is still worried, because it’s technically the same government, the same government that has not done enough for years now.” 

Among WWYW’s demands is a prioritisation of survivors in the national housing and homelessness strategy, and trauma-informed education for first responders to best deal with the often-fatal outcomes of gender-based violence. 

Intervention

According to Ms Cornelius, there is “nowhere near enough” early intervention and education programs for men and boys to stamp out misogynistic attitudes which so often lead to violence committed against women. 

“We need to be teaching young boys from a very early age how to respect and protect women, and how to control their emotions and express them in a safe way,” Ms Cornelius said. 

“I see so many young men who are desperately needing someone to talk to and they don’t have that, because it’s not been normalised for them. 

“I think the culture in Australia [is] that a lot of people want to bury their hends in the sand, and don’t want to think [the problem] is anywhere near as big as it actually is, when it really is massive.” 

Apart from donating to grassroots support organisations, which Ms Cornelius says is “somewhat unrealistic” given the cost-of-living crisis, normalising talking about respect for, and violence against, women is the most effective way to combat a national crisis. 

“Have those conversations with your male friends… it doesn’t matter who it is, whether it be your father, your brother, your co-worker, even just a friend, because the more it’s passed on, the more it becomes a normal topic. 

“If someone says to you, ‘this person is making me uncomfortable, I feel unsafe’, take it seriously, because in my books, I’d rather be safe than sorry, and be pedantic rather than be in a situation where I lose someone close to me.” 

The Perth No More: National Rally Against Violence will be held at Forrest Place, today (Saturday May 10) at 3pm.

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER